celebrant and deacon should by law first have taken part in the evening prayer the day before, and in the night and morning prayer. Normally there is only one Liturgy in the same church on one day.
They have a curious belief about the "holy leaven,"[1] sometimes even counting this as one of the seven Sacraments (p. 138). Namely, they say that St. John the Baptist kept some of the water which fell from our Lord at his baptism. He gave this to St. John the Apostle. At the last supper our Lord gave St. John two loaves. St. John mixed one with the baptism water and with the blood which flowed from our Lord on the cross. The Apostles then ground this to pieces, mixed it with flour and salt, and divided it amongst themselves, so that the leaven of the body and blood of our Lord should always remain in the Church. The Nestorians believe that they have this still, alone among Christians. Nestorius, when he was deposed, took it with him and left the West without it. They renew this "holy leaven" each Maundy Thursday. What remains from last year is mixed with fresh flour, salt and oil by the priest and deacon, in a special service. It is then kept in a vessel in the sanctuary all the year, and a small portion is mixed with the bread for the Holy Eucharist before each liturgy. No liturgy may be celebrated without it.
Most Eastern liturgies begin with a preparation of the bread and wine to be consecrated.[2] The Nestorians begin at the very beginning by first baking the bread. The celebrant and the deacon[3] mix flour and yeast[4] with a little oil and some warm water, in the baptistery or other place where the oven for this purpose may be. The celebrant breaks off some for the antidoron and some to mix with that of the next liturgy after this one.[5] He
- ↑ Called malkâ (king).
- ↑ The Byzantine προσκομιδή. It is really the offertory act, which takes place at the beginning of the whole service.
- ↑ They wear the tunic, girdle, and their respective forms of stole (p. 147). The celebrant puts on the ma‘prâ at the beginning of the liturgy of the faithful (p. 153).
- ↑ Their Eucharistic bread is, of course, leavened.
- ↑ This is another principle, to mix some of the bread from the last liturgy with that now being prepared. This is meant to emphasize the unity of the sacrifice, like the old Latin sancta and fermentum (Fortescue: The Mass, pp. 174–175, 366–370).
